William Lee Gore and Dora May Seaton

His parents: Isaac Darnell Gore and Sarah Margaret Gore

Her parents: Peter B. Seaton and Margaret Griffin(1)

The family bible has no entry about Lee's birth, and we can't know the exact date. I have also been unable to find Lee Gore or W. L. Gore on a 1900 federal, which would identify the birth month and year, in Henry County, Tennessee, or Jackson County, Missouri.(2)

Although I heard family converstions mention Lee often, I have little solid information about him.(3) Lee was married first to Donna Jimerson, daughter of Jefferson Jimerson and Rebecca Ann Turner, who died before he married Dora Mae Seaton in 1899. Although I often heard my extended family talk about Lee Gore and about the Jimerson family, I don't remember any mention of children from the marriage. There are no records from the 1890 federal census, thus removing a valuable research tool.

Lee married Dora Mae Seaton, daughter of Peter B. Seaton and Tennesse Griffin, in 1899. Lee's and Dora Mae's children were Bertie Lee, born 26 June 1903, Ester Closson, born 3 September 1906, and Isabella Margaret, born 13 November 1914.

Isabella died young, and her death certifate gives her marital status as single. Bertie Lee died as a young woman also, but she married before her death. I found no record of any children.

Buck married Novella Overcast, who was born 23 June 1917 in 1935. They had three children, two sons and a daughter. The older son was born in 1937, and the daughter was a bit younger. The youngest son was several years younger.

Buck was a character, not in a bad fashion, but definitely didn't mind being different. I knew him and Novella from my childhood, and knew the children. Novella died 9 June 1987, and Buck died 17 April 1995. They are buried in a plot in the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints) Cemetery at Foundry Hill on the Puryear-Whitlock Road.

Federal Censuses

1870HenryTNp387B,388A (stamped) 134,135 (penned): I. D. Gore 52, Margt 33, B. F. 23, J. T. 20, I. N. 18, Isabel 16, Mary E. 15, Francis 12, A. J. 9, Wm 7, Samantha 5, Emma 3, Randolph 2

1870HenryTNp385B,386A (stamped) 130,131 (penned): Jeff Jamison 25, Ann 25, Mary T. 6, Caloway 3, Donna B 4mo

1910HenryTNp47A, 7B (stamped) 7A, 7B (penned): William L. Goar 48 marr2 8y, Dora M. 28 marr1 8y 2ch/2living, Bertie L. 7, Ester C. 4, Horace 30 (brother)

1920JacksonMOp47A, 7B (penned): Lee W. Gore 54, Dora M. 36, Bertie L. 17, Ester C. 13, Isabell M 5

1910HenryTNp165B (stamped) 5B (penned): Rony 34, Audrey 28, Duncan 9, Novella 2y7mo

State of Tennessee, Henry County Marriage Applications, October 1886 - September 1895, page 137, Application #202, 9 November 1887, Lee Gore to Miss Dony Jamison, J. A. Alexander BM (Note: the prospective bride's name is spelled Dony once and Donie once.)
Henry County Archive and Genealogy Library, Paris, Tennessee

State of Tennessee, Henry County Marriage Applications, August 1895 - January 1903, page 35, Application #239, 15 November 1899, W. L. Gore to Miss E. M. Seaton, J. D. Abbot BM
Henry County Archive and Genealogy Library, Paris, Tennessee

State of Tennessee, Henry County Marriage Applications, July 1934 - August 1939, page 244, Application #118, 5 June 1935, B. E. Gore, age 28, to Miss Novela Overcast, age 21, father Roney Overcast; performed by J. S. Culpepper JP, 7 June 1935

Death Records

Missouri Death Certificate, Jackson County, 1926, #28553: Date of death 23 September 1926, Bertie Lee Pennell, born 26 July 1902, Puryear, Tennessee, parents Lee Gore and Dora Seaton, spouse George Pennell, informant Ada Alexander
Data: https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/Archives/ArchivesMvc/DeathCertificates#searchDB

Kentucky Death Certificate, Calloway County, 1936, #9799: Date of death 28 March 1936, Isabella Margaret Gore, born 13 November 1914, Puryear, Tennessee, parents William Lee Gore and Dora May Seaton, informant Ester Closson Gore (bro)

(Note 1): "Lee Gore, Dora Seaton Gore (daughter of Peter Seaton). Standing - Ada Seaton Alexander (daughter of Peter), Baby-Bertie Lee Gore
Legend on a photograph, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Foundry Hill Branch, 1881-1981, Researched and compiled by: Linda S. Dunlap, Centennial Historian

(Note 2): If the informati-on in an entry on Ancestry.com was transcribed correctly from the original record of Lee's death, it provides worthwhile data. Sometimes such entries have additional data from other unverified sources, and there is no way of knowing in this case. It has at least one incorrect item. It lists his mother as his spouse. From the Ancestry.com entry: William Lee Gore, born 21 March 1865, Tennessee, age 70, died 13 June 1935, Henry County, Tennessee, burial Foundry Hll, 14 June 1935, race white, widowed, residence Puryear, Tennessee, Farmer, father Isaac Gore, father's birth place Tennessee, spouse Margaret Walls Gore, female
Data from: "Tennessee Deaths and Burials, 1874–1955" Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010
From: Ancestry.com [database on-line]

(Note 3): People who write genealogical histories without checking clues carefully often confuse our William Lee Gore with another William Lee Gore of about the same age living much of his life in nearby Christian County, Kentucky. Researchers can find data about parents, wife, etc, for the other William in Kentucky Death Certificate #56-24603: born 18 March 1862, Tennessee, and died 10 December 1956, Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky; parents William Gore and Mary Crawford; information supplied by Mrs. W. L. Gore, wife. Many of the family names are the same as in our Gore family, but I believe, that he belongs to the family of Senator Albert Gore and Vice President Albert Gore and that any relationship to us is far in the past.